On October 4, members from our Norfolk County team, combined with Plymouth County members, attended a Search and Rescue exercise “Operation JBo” at Rutland State Park. Our squad worked alongside multiple police agencies, search teams, and other technical rescue teams from across the state searching for (4) missing individuals in a heavily wooded area.
The exercise objectives were to evaluate interagency planning, operations, coordination, search and rescue operations, and emergency medical care.
Our team utilized the app below “CalTopo” and searched the area designated as Segment 10. This was a heavily wooded area with poor access, and multiple areas with wetlands. The team had to create paths and work through multiple small trails to reach all corners of the designated area looking for missing individuals. With this app, our team had the capability to see all other teams searching, and the tracked locations they had searched. It was also very helpful to make sure we searched our own area fully. We were also able to tag any items we found as “clues/evidence” as well. Drill photos attached.
CalTopo – https://apps.apple.com/app/id1460038458
As a reminder, our next team drill will be on Friday, October 27th at 9AM. This will be a rope/confined space drill in Quincy at the St. Mary’s School.
More details to follow. Please mark your calendars as we are hoping to get better attendance than the previous drill.